Returning to love
by bubblegumskies
Summary: Viktor feels that Hermione's ignoring him and begins to feel lonely...
1. Chapter 1

**Viktor's POV**

Viktor rolled his eyes as his wife of five years, Hermione, went on about some mistake in the owl system that had disrupted her from working the whole day. She probably hadn't realised that she had told him the same information just an hour ago when she had arrived home from work, looking thoroughly exasperated and piqued about something. Work always came first for Hermione, it appeared to be what kept her alive and motivated. Even now he could see the excitement all over her face, her eyes shimmering with delight just by the talking about it. Even the word 'work' seemed to give her an orgasm of some sort. Looking at things now, Viktor realised that work was everything to her.

Hermione had lost interest in him, Viktor thought. Both in him and their relationship. All she ever talked about was work, work, work. Sometimes, she didn't even talk to him having paper work placed before her to work on. This had been going on for quite some time. Just over a year- now that he thought about it. Her interest and relationship with their sons hadn't changed though. It had always made Viktor wonder what he was doing wrong. Was he that boring to be around?

Then something happened one day. Something big. Viktor didn't know whether he was supposed to feel guilty or happy about it. He remembered walking out of the house after kissing his sons, Lyuben and Stanislav goodbye, leaving them in the care of his old friend and faithful houseelf, Twinkles, whom Hermione didn't like having around. She was very against having houselves. He remembered deciding that he was leaving the house for good, not leaving a note behind at all to explain things to Hermione. She probably didn't need an explanation, he thought. After all, she hardly talked to him now. She probably wouldn't realise that he wasn't even there.

Viktor ended up traveling around England a bit much to his own surprise- the muggle way- sometimes hitchhiked by car, sometimes by foot. He preferred traveling on foot because he got to look around and see the view. But to be honest, there wasn't much for him to see because a lot clouded his mind... like why his relationship with Hermione wasn't working. But he did remember walking through Chipping Campden, Bourton-on-the-water, Bibury, and Painswick, a few of the many fully muggle places in England. After that he didn't remember much of the places he walked by.

Hermione had tried to contact him... once to be exact. It was to ask if he was away for a Quidditch game. She had forgotten that he had retired last year. Of course, it was once again to do with work. She hadn't been able to make it to his retirement party because of some assignment with the Ministry. Work always came first.

Viktor walked up to Clovelly by chance one day. It was probably two weeks or so after leaving the house. He had been thinking about heading over to the sea to see where life decided to take him, going wherever the road led him. It was at Clovelly where he met a women around Hermione's age with dark black hair and deep blue eyes. She had very sharp look to her blue eyes, so when he had made his way down a pathway, she had immediately caught his attention.

Two days or so after that meeting, he met her again. He had decided that he was going to stay around Clovelly since it was a small and pretty place. And when he met her, they talked... and talked... and ended up in bed. They decided after that day that they would do this periodically whenever the other was available. No strings attached... friends with benefits... whatever people preferred to call it. This lasted quite a while. A month at the most? He never managed to catch her name.

Then one day, Viktor felt something stir inside of him. It was a strange feeling because it felt so foreign... it was a feeling that he hadn't felt it in a long time... it was love. He decided to follow the woman with the mysterious blue eyes one day after being in bed with her. Sex with her up to this point was all very physical... the aim really was to gain physical pleasure and so far things had gone as planned. He followed her slowly and carefully. He wasn't a stalker or anything so he didn't want to leave an impression on anyone who happened to spot him walking by. He walked as casually as possible and followed her until she got to a house, isolated from everything. It was a house a bit far from Clovelly, just by the sea. He saw her go inside and soon realised that she wasn't alone. There was another man and... a child... a young boy. He was reminded of Lyuben and Stanislav at that point and felt a painful stab to the chest. He missed them... a lot. He then decided it was time to return... to his tent just outside of Clovelly where he stayed. He couldn't bring himself to go home yet... just not yet...

The next day when Viktor was in bed with her, sex wasn't physical at all. The intimacy and emotions that had been missing was sparked between them and he found himself being brought to life. Just before she left, he told her that he was leaving for good. When she asked why, he told her the truth. He had a family of his own, he missed his kids- but he never mentioned that what had happened between them was wrong. She nodded and asked if she wanted to know her name or not, which he shook his head to. To be honest, Viktor would prefer having the woman with the blue eyes a mystery to him, so that she would end up as a distant memory somewhere deep inside of him. In all honesty, he wanted to keep her all in his head as if she was just fiction... an image made up in his mind. That way he would eventually forget her- just the way people eventually forgot about their childhood, remembering only snippets of their past.

He walked all the way back home from Clovelly... to Muggle London to Magic London. If people had known of his journey back and forth, they would have thought that he was crazy. To Viktor, the journey was a way to clear himself up. He wanted to forget about what had happened... what had become of his life. But at the same time, the journey made him realise how much his family meant to him. Maybe things would change between Hermione and himself. After all, things wouldn't had happened between them if some sort of spark hadn't been around, and the mess they had gotten into wouldn't have happened if they hadn't gotten together. Life was strange...

When he opened the door the muggle way to enter his home, he saw a teary eyed Hermione sat clumsily on the floor. It took her a while to notice he was even there since she appeared to have lost focus, and when she did notice him, she ran over and literally jumped onto him, flinging her arms around his neck.

Hermione didn't say anything at first. Just cried and cried and cried. She must have realised that she missed him, Viktor thought. That she loved him. He didn't hug her back though and instead, pushed her arms gently away from him before walking into the living room, as he shut the door behind him. Hermione walked up to him without saying a word. She was pretty much silent.

The moment of silence between them seemed to have sprung up on them, almost as if it were giving them a chance to think things through before saying anything. Breathe, he thought, breathe...

"Viktor... I'm so sorry for ignoring you... I love you... I really do. I know I've acted as if you didn't exist- but I really do love you. Honestly! I know that I've hurt you and put work before everything and I'm sorry to have caused you so much pain and I..."

Viktor looked at her and brushed a tear off of her cheek. The act between them- touching- he didn't remember the last time they had been intimate with each other. It brought a warmth to his heart as he looked into her eyes. Hermione was the love of his life, his first love. He was suddenly reminded of the blue eyed woman at that moment. Yes, he had loved her, but it wasn't the love that he wanted. It was just a desperate kind of love that sprang out slowly over time. He had wanted to be in love and be loved by somebody and she had just happened to be there at that moment. He felt disgusted at himself at the thought of her.

"I love you too. I'm sorry for walking out and leaving you alone."

She hugged him again and this time, he hugged her back. At that moment he saw his four year old Lyuben run up to him with little two year old Stanislav toddling after his bother petulantly, asking him to slow down for him through his moaning.

"*Tatko*!" Lyuben and Stanslav screamed when they spotted him standing with their mother.

Viktor smiled as he bent down to their level, spreading his arms out so that they could run into him. He hugged them tightly when they got to him, telling them how much he loved and missed them while he was away. Seeing his two young son up close now, he suddenly realised just how much the had grown over the period of time he had been away. It made him smile.

He could feel the longing emotion all over again as a quick flash of the memory of seeing the son of the woman with blue eyes came to him. How could he ever had left his two children? He hugged them again and kissed them, telling them how he wouldn't go away again for a long long time. They meant too much to him.

Later, when his sons went to bed, Viktor found himself alone with Hermione again. He realised at that moment that Hermione hadn't mentioned work once or even done any work. He raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Hermione asked.

He shook his head.

"Go on. Tell me."

"It's nothing. I'm just wondering why you aren't working."

She sighed, and he smiled as he noticed how gracefully she breathed.

"I quit."

Viktor gave her a look.

"I quite work."

She returned him one.

"I'm serious," she continued. "We've got enough money to get on anyway... I want to spend all the time I have with you and the kids. I put a lot of thought into this and I mean it."

"Really?"

"Really."

Viktor smiled. Maybe leaving hadn't been such a idea after all- not in that sense but the other sense...

"Do you want to travel all over the world then?" Viktor asked her as an idea sprung into his mind. "You, me and the kids. Just the four of us. We could do whatever we want- we can do this until the kids have to go to school. I want them to experience everything before school ruins it for them."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his last comment but agreed. "Yes, I do want to. And I'm sure the kids will love to. I mean... there are so many places I haven't been to yet!"

Viktor then leaned forward and kissed Hermione for the first time in probably over a year. It was intoxicating, almost unbelievable. After all this time, he still couldn't believe the magic between them was still there, even when they had fallen apart for a while.

When they parted, they smiled at each other.

"Do you want to start packing now?" Hermione asked.

He nodded. "I'd love to."

**A/N Been on fanfic for a while. This is my first story and will be a two chapter fic. Hope you liked it. But if it's not your cup of tea, whatever.**

**tatko= Dad in Bulgarian. It's the colloquial term for Dad.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hermione's POV**

Hermione sighed as she got home from work, exhausted by another long day at her office. She had recently been promoted and was just inches away from her dream position at the Ministry of Magic. She had been been working for the MOM for quite some time. Six years or more- she couldn't remember to be honest- but she did remember that she married Viktor after a year at the MOM. She had just explained to Viktor how much of a commotion there was at the Ministry because some idiot decided to complicate the Owl System which led to a myriad of problematic situations. She had an annoying feeling that the problems the idiot caused would be solved by tomorrow at the least. She hoped it didn't take too long because she had a grave meeting with a few important members of the Chinese, Bahraini, and Algerian Ministry of Magic in two days- the outcome of the meeting would decide her fate of whether she was going to get promoted to her dream spot or not...

Life at work had gotten harder than she imagined. People relied on her so much because she was the only one who could get things done perfectly and on time. She had been told that five people who had worked in the same position as her before her had been fired because of the lack of consistency and efficiency, so she figured that things were going to get harder for her soon. She was glad that she still had time for family life though... a couple of hours every now and then with her two sons, Lyuben and Stanislav when there was no paper work to do. Hermione thought that she still had time with Viktor. He seemed happy around her and she didn't see any problems between them or anything so she guessed that things were all right between them.

Over a week or so, Hermione had been given more work to do and she soon found that she had less time for herself and her family. She had tried to get things done as soon as she could, but it took longer than it usually did. She saw less and less of Viktor everyday, and in the end, she hardly saw him. She thought that it was to do with her work- but that was because she spent almost all day in her office or her work room at home. She would take turns with Viktor looking after Lyuben and Stanislav of course, but she found herself looking after them 24/7 one day. It was then that she realised Viktor hadn't been at home for quite some time. Viktor's probably off at Quidditch, she thought. He'd only be away because of that. So she had called him but got no exact reply. She knew that he was listening to her- he just wasn't answering her. This worried her of course but she had a ton of other problems to deal with- The Chinese were unwilling to sign a few of the papers that were needed to settle a case... she had to find a way to convince them to.

A week later, Hermione began to worry about Viktor. A week after that she was really worried. He hadn't been around home at all! Her body was dying from lack of sleep and exhaustion- she had a load of work to do and her sons to take care or- but Viktor wasn't here to help her! She ended up concluding that he wasn't at home and hadn't been at home at all for about a month or so. She was later convinced that her conclusion was close to the truth, after listening to Lyuben talking about how Daddy hadn't taken him flying in a long long long long time. In Lyuben's term of long, one long meant a week, and since he had said it for times, he meant a month.

Hermione could sense a change in her and it wasn't in terms of fatigue. Her worry had turned to sadness- a feeling of depressing loneliness was beginning to fill her up. Now that she thought about it, ever since Viktor 'disappeared', she had felt a piece of her drop to the ground. And now, she felt like the only piece still standing was her head that was helping her think 'logically'. Looking at Lyuben and Stanislav didn't help at all. They reminded her so much of Viktor. Hermione then realised that she missed him. Hermione realised that she was actually missing Viktor for the first time in a long time. She actually missed him.

Missing Viktor brought new feelings and thoughts to her. Work. Work had been getting in the way of Viktor and herself. Work. Work was all she had ever thought about. Work. Work was ruining her family life. Work. It had dehumanised her... in a sense. Work... she began to feel tears in her eyes as she realised how much she had been ignoring Viktor. She couldn't believe what she had been doing to him.

Soon, Hermione was a crying wreck. She cried all day and night. She cried when she went to work. She cried when she fed her kids. She cried when she took her showers. She cried when she went to sleep. Soon, she gave up going to work all together. Yes, she did get mail on why she was absent from work, but she didn't reply to them. She couldn't believe she didn't care about it. She just worried about Viktor. He was all she could think about.

She had thought about contacting him- but she couldn't bring herself to do so... After all she had hurt him. Ignored him... She just didn't feel like she had the right to do so...

Twinkles had tried to help out. Brought her tissues every now and then. She cooked dinner, cleaned the house, played with the kids... Usually, Hermione would have made a huge fuss about it, but she didn't think time. Viktor was all she could think about.

She wondered what he was doing. Was he all alone? Did he have someone else in mind? Was he back in Bulgaria, contemplating divorcing her? Just the thought about it brought more tears to her. It was then that she decided that she was going to quit work. She had told her boss so, and he told her that she was stupid- stupid because anybody would die to be in her position. She had laughed at that. She hated the position she was in- a crying wreck. Who'd want to be a crying wreck?

When she got home, she collapsed to the floor in the living room she was in and began to bang her head against the floor. Who would have thought that Hermione Krum would ever cry over some man? Who would have thought that Hermione Krum would become a total mess, ignoring work? She couldn't believe herself either.

When she sat back up, she spotted a man standing at the entrance to enter the house. Hermione couldn't see very well because of the water in her eyes, so it took her a while to notice it was Viktor. Her eyes widened. Was she dreaming? Her heart pounded furiously as she got up and ran over to him, flinging her arms around his neck.

She didn't say anything at first. She wanted to make sure he was real. She took in his scent and smelt something different about it. He seemed a changed man and this frightened her slightly, but she couldn't blame him. She didn't know why.

Hermione felt a stab to his chest when he shoved her off of him, and she followed after him when he walked into the living room, shutting the door behind him. Neither of them said anything, and a strange silence just covered them. It was the silence wanted to tease her somehow. But she knew she had to say something to him. She owed him that much- more. She hoped she wasn't dreaming.

"Viktor... I'm so sorry for ignoring you... I love you... I really do. I know I've acted as if you didn't exist- but I really do love you. Honestly! I know that I've hurt you and put work before everything and I'm sorry to have caused you so much pain and I..."

Hermione couldn't bring herself to continue as she felt his fingers brush her cheeks. She held her breath as a tingly sensation was sent all over her body from her cheeks. His touch- it was a brilliant feeling. She couldn't remember the last time they had touched.

Viktor... he was the love of her life, her second- first love. Gilderoy Lockhart didn't count... Viktor was her first love and her only love and she had hurt him. If Hermione was given the chance to change anything in her life, she knew exactly what she would do. She would have rejected the chance to work for the Ministry of Magic. She would have rejected it all.

"I love you too. I'm sorry for walking out and leaving you alone."

Those words just did it for her, so she hugged him, and this time, Viktor hugged her back much to her delight. Hermione could hear a pitter pattering, tiny footsteps running across the floor... she hadn't heard such urgency from her sons in a long time. She smiled as she heard her youngest son, Stanislav, ask his older brother to stop running so quickly.

"*Tatko*!" the two boys screamed.

Hermione knew that this was inevitable, and sighed when Viktor let go of her. He knelt down to their sons level to give them a bear hug. She felt a warmth spread over her as she heard her tell them how much he missed and loved them. He seemed different to her somehow... maybe it was because they had spent so long apart.

Later, when she put their sons to bed, she found herself alone with Viktor in the living room. She couldn't remember the last time they were alone together. Breathe... she told herself. Breathe... Looking at Viktor, she noticed that he had raised an eyebrow. She raised hers too, wondering what he was thinking about.

"What?" she asked.

He shook his head, and this only made her more curious.

"Go on. Tell me."

He seemed hesitant, but smirked all of a sudden.

"It's nothing. I'm just wondering why you aren't working."

She sighed, and blushed as she noticed how he was looking at her curiously and in awe. He seemed to be in a state of shock. She then wondered if she should tell him that she quite her job...

"I quit."

Viktor gave her a look. He probably didn't understand what she meant.

"I quite work."

Hermione returned him a look.

"I'm serious," she continued. "We've got enough money to get on anyway... I want to spend all the time I have with you and the kids. I put a lot of thought into this and I mean it."

"Really?"

His eyes were wide open. He didn't appear to believe her.

"Really."

Viktor smiled, and this made her smile.

"Do you want to travel all over the world then?" Viktor asked her suddenly. "You, me and the kids. Just the four of us. We could do whatever we want- we can do this until the kids have to go to school. I want them to experience everything before school ruins it for them."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she heard his last comment. Did she want to? It would be a great idea to be alone... just the four of them traveling... she had always wanted to travel about. She was sure that Lyuben and Stanislav would enjoy it. They had Viktor's love for adventure and flying so...

"Yes, I do want to. And I'm sure the kids will love to. I mean... there are so many places I haven't been to yet!"

She was caught off guard when Viktor suddenly leaned forward an kissed her lips. She shut her eyes as she felt herself being pulled over to him as if he were gravity. It was intoxicating- amazing- incredible. She couldn't breathe. Maybe we fell apart for a reason, she suddenly thought. Maybe it was to bring us closer.

When they parted, they smiled at each other.

"Do you want to start packing now?" Hermione asked.

He nodded. "I'd love to."

**A/N Now that's Hermione's side of the story. Hope you liked it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Viktor's POV**

It was now well over a year since he had made up with Hermione, and their family had travelled a lot. They had gone to all of the major Wizarding communities around the world and had gone to a couple of muggle places. Viktor's favourite places had been visiting the South American communities, whereas Hermione and the kids preferred the Middle East. Sure there had been times when Hermione missed work, but they had conversations about it so there wasn't much of a problem. In fact, he loved Hermione more than ever now.

They were back in The UK and were going to the places they hadn't been to yet. A couple of strange castles had been visited as well as an underground community of wizards and witches he had never heard of before. They had then decided to head over to a couple of seaside communities since they hadn't been by the shore in a long time. Strange thoughts were triggered at the thought of the shore, but he didn't put much thought to it. It wasn't until Hermione took him to the seaside that memories started to come to him.

He looked around and realised that he recognised the place. Hermione was walking down the steps with Lyuben in her arms when she suddenly paused to turn around to smile at him. He gulped. The very place where she was standing was where he had met the blue eyed woman. They were in Clovelly!

"Tatko!" Stanislav giggled into his ears.

Viktor smiled at his young son and held him closer to himself. He was worried and was beginning to feel sick. His family meant everything to him... He hoped that he wouldn't bump into her... if she was still around.

**An hour late**

Viktor watched as Hermione played with their sons by the waters of the pebble beach they were in. They were pretty much alone with a few muggles walking past them every now and then. So far so good... maybe the blue eyed woman had left?

He scowled as the thoughts started to worry him more. He had felt apprehensive and worried many times having played in countless Quidditch games and all, but what he was going through now was like nothing he had experienced before. Was this meant to be his karma?

"Go and ask Daddy if he want to join us." he heard Hermione tell Lyuben, the elder of their sons.

"Tatko! Come play!" Lyuben yelled with delight.

Viktor tried to smile as he watched Lyuben attempt to splash water at him. The distance between them didn't help to much, but Viktor flinched anyway, causing his son to laugh. He should at least grin for his son right? Lyuben was supposed to enjoy this experience...

But then his thoughts got worse and he couldn't think. In fact, he honestly didn't feel like he could put the effort to play with his kids. Horrible, he thought. But I honestly can't.

He walked over to his family and told them that he needed to go to the loo. He knew that he had to tell Hermione the whole truth in the end, but now wasn't the moment. Hermione gave him a curious look just as he turned his back on her, and he walked hurriedly away from the pebble beach to find the nearest toilet.

He passed by a couple of houses, dreading and hating the very ground he was walking on. He looked further ahead of him and could see the pathway that would lead towards one of the many places where he had shagged the blue eyed woman. He scowled furiously. Why were thoughts of her coming to him now? He hadn't put a thought on her at all since making up with Hermione. And why did Hermione have to bring them here of all places? There were millions of other beaches in The UK!

Just as his face had soften, it returned to a scowl. He spotted the blue eyed woman walking towards him, but she hadn't spotted him yet. Damn, he thought. What do I do now?

"Oh, hello." She said, when she spotted him.

Viktor hated himself. He had had enough time to walk away earlier but had been frozen still the entire time. He gave her a brief nod.

"What are you doing here? It's been so long, well over a year!" she said, raising an eyebrow. Her blue eyes glittered.

When he didn't respond, she took a step forward to close the gap between them. She was wearing a skirt a bit too short for her age and was wearing a tight tank top that was fortunately covered by a jacket. He knew that she was wearing a tight tank top, because she had worn the same top three times when they had sex.

"Did you come for more?" she asked when he still didn't say anything. "I missed you too."

Viktor caught her hand just as she was about to touch his cheek. "Stop." he said.

She gave him a curious look as he dropped her hand.

"No. I did not come for you. I just so happened to be here." He muttered.

She rolled her eyes. "That's what they all say."

He gave her a look. "So you have others?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh no! That's not what I meant. I'm just saying that that's what the majority of men are like."

"Well, I'm not like that. I just so happened to be here, and since you are here, I want to say that I want the both of us to forget what has happened between us. I have my own family and a wife I love. I don't want to hurt them."

"You mean that ugly looking bush of a woman you were with earlier?" she said with a snort.

He scowled at her. "Do not talk about my wife like that!"

She snorted again in an unlady like manner. "Whatever."

He had never had a proper conversation her, now that he thought about it. Excluding their first day they met, all their talking was done through sex. He gave her a look before walking away from her. He hoped she got the message.

And much to his surprise, she did. And from that day on, he hadn't heard a word from her at all. She belonged to his past.

**A few hours later**

"Viktor." Hermione said a couple of minutes after she got their sons to sleep.

"Yes?" He asked, uncomfortably.

"You've been a bit off today. Don't you find this place beautiful? I mean... you would normally comment on things as we walk by... Are you feeling really sick?"

He frowned and wondered whether he should tell her or not. Even the idea of it bothered him.

He stared at his wife and thought just how amazing she looked. He wondered why he even gave the blue eyed woman a look.

"Viktor?"

He blinked.

When he didn't respond, she walked over to him and gave him a kiss. He kissed her back and sighed.

"There is something I need to tell you." he began. "I have been meaning to tell you this for a long time."

She looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

He took a deep breath. "Last year, when I was away- you remember right? I was away for two months or so... Well. I met a woman. Very beautiful. And well... I had sex with her. Several times. Fucked rather... And... I don't know... I'm sorry... I really wanted to tell you all this time... I-"

He couldn't finish what he wanted to tell her. He had had his speech all rehearsed, but all he had told her so far had not been what he had planned. They were all just bits and pieces and now... he was crying.

Hermione was silent, and he expected her to hate him now. Viktor scowled. He had ruined everything for himself, his family, his Hermione... He'd deserve everything Hermione wanted to do to him. He hated himself.

After a few minutes of silence between the two, his silent tears, her motionless standing... she walked over to him and slapped his face. Hard.

"You deserve this." she said. She then slapped his other cheek. "And that."

He nodded. "I know."

"I can't believe that you even thought of-" she stopped midway through her sentence to look at him. "I have to leave this house." she said. "You could- should have told me sooner. I can't believe you prolonged such a matter!"

She paused for a moment.

He looked at her. He wanted to tell her not to leave him. He wanted to say anything but he couldn't. Not a word could escape his lips.

"I'm taking the kids with me. I can't stay in this house with you."

"No!" he managed to yell- or rather, squeak.

"It's either us leaving or you out of the house!"

He was about to protest some more when she took her wand out.

"Last warning. Out now or I'll fucking castrate you!"

Before he could even say a word, she fired a spell at the door then him. He blinked and when he opened his eyes, found himself somewhere he couldn't recognise. He was still crying. He couldn't believe it, but he did expect some sort of reaction from Hermione. She was human after all, and a woman at that. His family life was ruined. He had ruined everything. He was hurting. Sooner or later, Hermione was going to file for divorce. Ask for full custody of their kids. He didn't want that to happen, but he'd let her have her way. He owed her that much.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hermione's POV**

She was well taken aback by the many places her family had gone together, having only gone as far as her parents place whenever she had the time. But ever since she had quit work, it was a different story, quite a happy one in fact. Her favourite place had been the Middle East. The very culture and environment fascinated her, and she found it hard to believe that the Magic community there held the same society to that of their muggle counterparts. Men were deemed superior over women. She had been required to cover almost all of her body parts, but that hadn't been much of a problem since she had spells to keep cool. Her entire observation of the community was her favourite bit.

It had been over a year since the incident between her husband and herself. She didn't like to think about it, but sometimes, she felt as if it were a lesson to her- that life wasn't so perfect. But then again, imperfect things could be perfected to a certain extent, and that was what she had tried to do throughout the year. It was hard, but she felt that it had been worth it. There were times of course when she periodically missed working. She tried to not put much thought to it, and whenever she did so, she would talk to Viktor and try and settle things out. They always managed to find a way to distract her, through deep conversations, their kids, their sex life. The latter of their distractions was a curious thing. Not the action, but Viktor's behaviour in general. There was something different about him. She didn't know what it was, but she felt that he felt almost guilty about an aspect of it. She tried not to think about that too much too.

They were back in England now, and had gone to several places. Her experience with her family in the underground communities had been overwhelming as the magic community there lived just as they had back in the ancient times... almost. But it had still been an overwhelming yet exciting experience. She had learnt a few old spells regarding managing the house! After experiencing the 'underworld', she decided that she wanted to go to the seashore. Viktor didn't seem to mind and neither did the children. In fact, Lyuben and Stanislav were excited by this. So she decided to head over to Clovelly, as that was a childhood holiday spot of hers when she was younger.

She was currently walking down the steps to head over to the beach, after dropping off all of their belongings in a tent nearby. Lyuben was holding on tightly to her hand and was murmuring a sweet song to himself as he walked down the steps with her. When he paused for a moment, she took the time to turn around to look at Viktor who appeared to be having a little bonding session with Stanislav. Hermione smiled to herself. She was glad that they had taken this worldwide trip. It seemed to be working out for them.

**An hour later**

Hermione chuckled to herself as her sons splashed water at her. The two were absolute water babies! She could tell that much since they had somehow overran her on the way to the waters of the beach.

When she turned around to look at Viktor, she found him looking around occasionally as he sat on his beach towel. He seemed happy yet worried at the same time. She wondered what was on his mind. He hadn't been like this before their arrival here. He had been absolutely fine the other day. She got rid of her frown and replaced it with a smile when he caught her staring at him.

"Go and ask Daddy if he want to join us." Hermione told Lyuben, who looked absolutely delighted with the request.

"Tatko! Come play!" Lyuben yelled, splashing water towards his father.

Hermione smiled as she saw Viktor fake a flinch. He was just so different in his way of communicating with their kids. Maybe it was a father and son thing.

She watched as he suddenly stood up and made his way over to them. He looked like a sinking ship. Looking devastated and broken. He muttered something about feeling sick and needing the toilet. But before she could say anything, he turned his back on her and made his way up and out of the beach. This left her curious and slightly worried. She wondered if it was because of something he ate or because he hadn't had a good nights sleep. Another feeling then crept up on her, but she pushed the thought aside. It wasn't a very good feeling.

**A few hours later**

"Viktor." Hermione said a couple of minutes after she got their sons to sleep.

"Yes?" He asked, looking confused and slightly worried.

She sighed, wondering what was wrong with him. What is going through his mind? She thought.

"You've been a bit off today. Don't you find this place beautiful? I mean... you would normally comment on things as we walk by... Are you feeling really sick?"

Hermione saw a frown form on his face. It wasn't a good sign. But then, he stared at her, with an expression that she couldn't quite figure out.

"Viktor?" she asked, starting to get worried.

She watched him blink, and when he didn't respond to her, she walked over to him and gave him a kiss, closing her eyes as he kissed her back. The kiss was rather empty as she couldn't feel any emotion sprung from him. It tasted bittersweet. She then heard him sigh.

"There is something I need to tell you." he suddenly began. "I have been meaning to tell you this for a long time."

Hermione looked at him curiously, feeling the nagging and dreading feeling that had bothered her during their entire time at Clovelly. It was a feeling of warning and dread and that something wasn't right. What on earth was he going to tell her? "What is it?" she asked.

He took a deep breath, causing her heart to quicken in pace in the bad way. Suddenly, she was beginning to feel empty and sick, knowing what he was going to say somehow. She could already imagine the scene before her as she blinked.

"Last year, when I was away- you remember right? I was away for two months or so... Well. I met a woman. Very beautiful. And well... I had sex with her. Several times. Fucked rather... And... I don't know... I'm sorry... I really wanted to tell you all this time... I-"

Her eyes widened as he trailed off into nothing. The words spoken from his lips went through her as if it were the wind and seeped out of her through her other ear. Her heart appeared to stop beating for a second and she could feel her blood start to boil. What the hell is all of this? She thought.

Hermione decided to remain silent for now as to tried collect her thoughts in a calm manner. She was furious with Viktor for not telling her sooner. Sure they both made their mistakes but at least she had admitted it sooner! She watched him scowl, knowing exactly how he was feeling, yet she glared at him. She wondered if he realised how she was feeling right now and how much she so wanted to punch him.

After a few minutes of silence between the two, his silent tears, her motionless yet emotional standing, she slapped him in the face as hard as she could, hoping he could feel her pain tremble all around him.

"You deserve this." she tried to yell, only to have it come out of her as if it were a whisper. Angry at herself for sounding so defenseless, she slapped his other cheek. "And that."

He nodded acknowledging her. She could see pain written across his face.

"I know."

She hated the look on his face right now. The weak and lost look on his face- his very presence. Hermione was suddenly disgusted with herself for ever touching him.

"I can't believe that you even thought of-" she stopped midway through her sentence to look at him, to see through him by looking into his eyes. She suddenly imagined the scene before her, of the woman and him. What had made him want to do such a thing with her? What had made that woman better than her? Was she not enough? Wasn't she good enough for him? "I have to leave this house." she told him, as she planned on keeping the kids away from him. "You could- should have told me sooner." she paused again. "I can't believe you prolonged such a matter!"

She paused for a moment to think again. She took a deep breath. She had never thought that Viktor would do such a thing to her, but then again who would have ever thought that the love of their life would do such a thing?

She froze as she suddenly felt his eyes on her, and suddenly she wanted to change her mind. He looked so vulnerable it made her want to cry. She wanted to hold onto him and tell him everything was alright. She then realised just how much she was in love with him. She always had and always would, but not at the present. She needed time away from him.

"I'm taking the kids with me. I can't stay in this house with you." she told him as emotionlessly as she could.

"No!" she heard him squeak.

She was starting to feel livid. "It's either us leaving or you out of the house!"

She could tell there was going to be more protest, so as to prevent that from happening, she took out her wand. She didn't want to though.

"Last warning. Out now or I'll fucking castrate you!"

She couldn't believe she had just swore.

She could see his lips about to form a word, but she didn't want to hear his voice again, it would hurt her. So she took her wand out and fired at the door before setting a spell on him. In a flash he was gone and she found herself alone in the 'living room' of the tent, just as she had been over a year ago when she was a crying wreck, waiting for Viktor to come back in the living room. Only this time, she wondered if he ever would? She needed time to herself. She needed to be alone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Viktor's POV**

Viktor stared at his fists, oblivious to the negotiation going on in front of him. All he could hear was an irritating mumble in the background, much like that of a bees but worse. It wasn't his usual negotiation- Quidditch contracts, sponsors, the lot- it was on his divorce.

Over the past few months, things had worsened between them. A very fluctuating relationship was what he liked to call it, because they were so in love at times, and at others, mad as hell at each other. He wondered if his kids had noticed, but he doubted they had because they were just so young.

He took a peek at his soon to be ex wife, Hermione, without lifting his head and could see that she too, was staring at her own fists. What differed her from him was that he could tell that she was listening to the conversation. The way her eyebrow was arched at a particular angle, the size of her eyes, the movement of her breathing- he had learnt that much about her throughout their relationship.

"Mr. Krum?" Blaise Zabini, Hermione's lawyer said. "Mr. Krum?"

"What?" Viktor asked.

Zabini gave him a disapproving look but went on. "Do you agree with everything that is written? If so, sign the papers as Ms. Granger has done so."

"Aren't you keeping your name?" Viktor asked Hermione, completely ignoring Zabini.

"She will like to be spoken to through me. And the answer to your question is no. She will be using her original name as of before the marriage." Zabini said. "Please sign here."

Viktor sighed as he looked at the paper, not bothering to read its content. If this was what Hermione wanted, he'd do whatever for her. He owed her that much. And so he sighed the papers, not knowing what a miserable life he was to lead.

**Ten Years later**

The past ten years had been absolute hell for Viktor. He hadn't realised just how much Hermione had wanted to get rid of him from her life and their children. If only he had read the content... he could have argued for his rights... he could have begged for her forgiveness... he could have begged for her to start over with him again- but he hadn't. He had done all he had for Hermione, to make up for what he had done, and he was paying for it.

He had met up with Hermione a couple of times, but in separate rooms. It had just been to spend time with the kids. She had specifically written that he was to be kept away from them, but she had gone against her own wants for him, allowing him to send over presents on their birthdays and whatever. It had only made him feel worse than he already had.

Yes, Viktor had felt guilty. Guilty for sleeping with other women after divorcing Hermione. The habit hadn't left him ever since he had slept with the blue eyed woman. He hated his habit but it was like a gut instinct, the want for women ran in his veins.

Viktor blinked as he walked through the crowd, stopping midway as he made his way over to the cue. He could have sworn he had just seen Hermione. He turned around and indeed saw Hermione, being hugged by a balding man. He could see his sons, Lyuben and Stanislav with them and saw that Lyuben held a young baby girl in his arms with flaming red hair. When he looked closer, he realised that the balding man was in fact, Ronald Weasley. Had Hermione remarried?

He sighed and thought that it was all right for her to have gotten with the Weasley boy. Viktor just wanted her to be happy, and if this marriage to that Weasley was what made her happy, then he'd be happy to- for her. He wanted her to be happy.


End file.
